The race is on for the year-end No. 1 ranking after Novak Djokovic captured his fifth BNP Paribas Masters title on Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic moved to within 640 points of Rafael Nadal in the 2019 race by beating Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 in the Paris final. The top-seeded Serb served at 71 percent and saved the only break point he faced while prevailing in one hour and five minutes.
“It was my best serving performance of the tournament,” Djokovic assessed. “Denis maybe lost his focus a bit.”
It would be understandable if that was the case for Shapovalov, who was playing in his first career Masters 1000 final. It did not help that the 20-year-old Canadian was going up against an opponent who is now 12-1 since the U.S. Open.
“It was tough for me to find a groove just because he was really, really picking his spots on the serve,” Shapovalov explained. “Big credit to him. He played an amazing match and had a great week. I wish him the best of luck for London.”
Djokovic must reach the Nitto ATP Finals title match in order to have a chance of finishing ahead of Nadal in the year-end rankings. Nadal, who is questionable with an abdominal injury that forced him to withdraw from a Paris semifinal against Shapovalov, can force Djokovic to capture the title if he wins at least two matches.
A Djokovic victory over Nadal in the London final would be enough for the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion if he goes undefeated the whole week and Nadal loses at least one round-robin match.
Despite Djokovic’s Paris triumph, the Spaniard will regain the No. 1 world ranking on Monday. He is also expected to learn more about his injury early in the week, perhaps in time for Tuesday’s draw ceremony.
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congrats, Djoker
Congrats Rafa for regaining the no.1 ranking!
Hopefully he’s fit to play at WTF and then goes on to become YE no.1; it’ll be sad for him if he loses no.1 ranking again due to injury, having been the best player throughout the season.
Today (November 4) Rafa returned to the top of the ATP Rankings for the 8th time!
From his very first day at No. 1 (August 18, 2008) to today, it has been exactly eleven years and 77 days.
https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles
Vamos Rafa!💪
@Ratcliff (in case you’re lurking) Congrats for Novak’s win in Paris!
Hey thanks Ramara! I don’t lurk but thankfully I got a email notice that you had mentioned me. That’s a first! It was in my gmail account! Anyway I’ve barely been following tennis but yes, I was surprised that Nole won Paris. I think a couple people in the bracket group went with him winning. But more of us picked the magical Medvedev, lol.
So sorry to hear that Rafa pulled out due to a possible tear – or maybe he caught a niggle soon enough to compete well in the Finals, coming up. That would be cool if Rafa could win it this year. I know many Rafa fans to give the indoors hardcourt ATP Final the weight others do. Anyway good luck to Rafa!
WTA finals in Shenzhen were great in the end: Barty over last years’ winner Svitolina. I love watching WTA finals 😀
I will try to watch more of the ATP Finals next week. Can’t really get into next gen finals for some reason. I do take some notice come the Next Gen Final but my attention has been on studying the ballot for my state election (happening today) and of course, walking upright. 😀
Yes, the WTA finals were pretty good this year! Grats to Barty, although I was kind of hoping Svitolina would win it. Guess she and Gael will have to console each other.
Yes, it would be cool if Rafa could finally win the ATP finals this year. Should be interesting.
Our (NC) state election is of so little interest this year my husband (he pays more att’n to politics than I do) decided we could skip it this year – something he has NEVER done before.
North Carolina?? Yikes. Well I’ve only been there briefly, once. I’ll keep my mouth shut.
Yes, it was over 4 million dollars, I thought I heard that but I was afraid to say it! But, isn’t there an adjustment for inflation and other things? Value of the dollar in Shenzhen? LOL, I don’t know. Svitolina won it last year. And even the losers like Bencic, get a great payday. No wonder she was fighting so hard to make top 8! However there are those in the top 8 that already have large slews of money. Serena, still top ten, I think, rarely aims for the WTA final.
Not like I was born in NC! But I was born in IND, so not much of an improvement! Think of us as turning the state blue, or trying to.
I just came on here to congratulate Rafa for being #1! Well done!
I also wanted to give a shout out to Elizabeth. Nice to see you here again! This place is always better for your presence.
Thanks, dear NNY! It’s very nice to hear. I too appreciate reading you, when you are able to post.
Best wishes for outcome of the votes in Florida! I remain hopeful but stressed out about the election to come — a year from now. Regionally, it’s important to get out today and try to get a more conservationist and environmentally concerned Mayor and urban management team for this burgeoning metropolis called, Boise, Idaho. People are fleeing to this part of Idaho, it’s okay, there is room here and more diversity is needed. Hopefully they are also voting blue and have a mind to care for community, habitat and not exploit natural resources in every corner for the greed of it all! oops. Fullstop.
Elizabeth,
I have missed you. I also miss Amy. I have not been posting very much, but did follow Paris. I thought Rafa was looking good, but with him we just never know these days.
Sorry, I forgot to congratulate you on Novak’s win in Paris. Things are looking better for him. It’s frustrating to see Rafa with yet another injury. I am not sure what to expect at the WTF. I have to believe that he would not take an unnecessary risk with his health in order to play.
Florida will be ground zero again in 2020. It’s one of the swing states that will decide the election. I don’t even want to think about the Democrats not winning. I will defer any further discussion for the non-tennis forum.
I always get some good updates from you on the women to watch! You are like an encyclopedia of knowledge with the women.
Take care! 😀
NNY,
I’m far from being an encyclopedia of knowledge for WTA or ATP. I only started following the WTA semi-closely (weekly tournaments) around 2014 or 2015. But I will admit to talking up WTA the most on this site! 😀
I’d like to see Rafa wins the ATP Final this year. Then be done with it. What astonishes me is that Zverev was good enough to win it last year! And Dimitrov before that. And Murray before that. Yes, it’s damn time Rafa won it!!
On the other hand, as a Nole fan, I’m hoping he ties Roger and gets his 6th title. Gosh I was curious enough to go look up all those stats about ATP Final Champions earlier today. I thought Nole had already passed Federer, lol.
Time is running out for the big three. Or am I wrong again 😀
Elizabeth,
Compared to me you are an encyclopedia of knowledge! I enjoy you talking up the women. It keeps me in the know!
Color me impressed that you did look up those stats. Novak has a good shot to win it again. I just have to be cautious with Rafa because there is no way to know if this abdominal injury will not allow him to do his best. I really thought that maybe he would finish this year healthy for once. I can’t complain considering that he won two slams this year, but it would be nice to see him play for year end #1 and the ATP final.
I guess that time may be running out for the big three, but I have to say that I enjoyed every minute of watching them stay on top in this sport. I just admire their commitment and dedication and love fir tennis. It’s been a privilege watching them hold off the young guys.
I wish Amy was here. She is such a good soul and we all have had great discussions about the political situation in our respective countries.
If you want to talk politics, just post on the non-tennis forum and I will see it.
😘